Spring Trip to the Botanical Garden

Mom, Emmalee and I spent Saturday afternoon at the Botanical Gardens.

I've been there in the summer and fall but hadn't visited in the spring.

Oh! The beauty.

It's amazing that someplace can be so beautiful no matter

what time of the year you go.

(Emma took this photo of Mom and I)

My sweet, sweet girl.

Love that little face!

The tulips were gorgeous!

Mom and I always visited the Tulip Festival when I lived in

Portland. We missed it this year. I was so glad

to see so many beautiful tulips at the garden's entrance.

To make a great day perfect, we were joined by

the other Em, her momma, her sis Aislyn, and Cassie's parents

and sister. It was so nice to spend time with them again.

Em and Em were, of course, ecstatic to be together.

Oh, I hope these two are life-long friends.

I take a lot of photos of flowers, but I have no idea what

most of them are called. If you want to know what something is, head on over to

Mom's and ask the expert.

I couldn't help but smile when Emma saw the chairs prepared for an uncoming wedding.

I heard her say, "It looks like it's time for meeting."

Ember and Icy sat in the front row. I couldn't hear what they

were saying, but I think that Emma might have been asking them questions.

Cassie and I

~

I have been blessed with her friendship,

especially since we moved here.

I had no idea there was wildlife at the Gardens.

We came around the corner and some scary (and in Emma's case, noisy)

monsters jumped out at us.

Mom doing what she loves

I want these in my yard!

Don't you just love the pigtails?

What do you see, Icy?

This reminds me of the book I loved to read when I

was young..."The Secret Garden."

Imagine pushing open the gate...what would you see?

The girls found something very exciting!

Do you see it?

A lovely green frog staring back at you!

Goodbye for now, Gardens.

We'll be back when it's 100 degrees for our summer visit!

Happy Mother's Day

Mom informed me today that she was getting a little tired of looking at Emma's skirts.

It was a not-so-sublte hint to UPDATE MY BLOG!!!

I've put a couple of posts this evening about our trip to La Grande last weekend.

I've many more photos to post, but they will have to wait for another night.

Here are a couple taken today at the Botantical Gardens.

Flowers...

for my beautiful mom.
(Photo courtesy of Emma)

May I be more like her somday.

I love you, Mom.

Happy Mother's Day!

How to bake an apple pie

find a perfect chef and a very willing student

select gorgeous, tasty apples

peel and slice apples

stage a silly photo with the uncle who
was sitting in the background of the last photo reading
the newspaper while the women work!

slice (very carefully) the apples

squeeze the lemon

rick...go back to your paper!

no...really squeeze that lemon!

add the yummy spices

shake....shake...shake...

steal a little taste

mmm...delicious

spread out the bottom crust

arrange it in the pie pan

pour in the tasty apples

...aaahhhh...

spread out the top crust

arrange it over the apples

prepare the egg wash and

spread it over the crust

cut vents in the crust

~a happy face works best~

sprinkle on the cinnamon and sugar

make some more funny faces

~

bake

~
wait patiently

~

enjoy the delicious aroma coming from the kitchen

~

two happy cooks

one gorgeous and delicious pie!

~

totally forgot to take a picture of Emma digging in...oops!

thanks, Aunt Annie, for an experience she'll remember forever

~~~

and a happy birthday to you tomorrow!

Beautiful Gloom

On the drive back home through Eastern Oregon, we got to

experience some of that good ol' Oregon rain.

For me, it made the landscape even more beautiful.

As I sat in the passenger seat and watched the clouds envelop

the green hills and pines, it made me think of the setting for the book series

I just finished reading...Scotland. If I could travel to anywhere in the world,

it would be Scotland.

Someday, I want to live in this valley, on this little homestead.

When we used to live in Portland and would travel to Mom and Dad's for a week-long visit, we knew the trip was almost done when we came upon this sign. We'd call Mom and Dad and the kids would sing the Vandal's fight song...I-D-A-H-O...Idaho...Idaho...Go...Go...Go!!